Lead Automation Engineer

Role Overview

Lead Automation Engineer at RAK BANK. This is a hands-on leadership role driving the bank's enterprise-wide test automation strategy across digital channels, core banking platforms, APIs, mobile applications, and integration layers.

Role Purpose

Build scalable automation frameworks, accelerate CI/CD quality delivery, improve test coverage, and reduce manual testing effort across mission-critical banking platforms while establishing automation excellence and shift-left testing practices throughout the software delivery lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Framework Design

• Lead the design, development, and scaling of enterprise-wide test automation frameworks across web, mobile, API, and core banking platforms.
• Define automation standards, best practices, coding guidelines, and governance across internal and vendor teams.

Test Coverage & Quality Gates

• Build and maintain robust regression suites that improve test coverage, execution speed, and defect detection while reducing manual testing effort.
• Drive automation adoption across the software development lifecycle by integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines and quality gates.
• Own test data management, environment readiness, and automation reporting to ensure reliable and repeatable test execution.

Testing Initiatives

• Lead API, integration, mobile, and performance testing initiatives across critical banking applications and customer journeys.
• Support intelligent automation, RPA testing, and continuous improvement initiatives that enhance delivery quality and efficiency.

Stakeholder & Team Leadership

• Partner with Engineering, DevOps, Product, and Quality teams to embed quality and testability into solution delivery.
• Mentor and develop automation engineers through technical leadership, code reviews, and knowledge sharing.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree plus 8–10 years of software testing experience.
• At least 3 years leading automation initiatives within banking or financial services environments.
• Proven experience in API automation, performance testing, and integration testing across complex enterprise applications.
• Solid understanding of retail and business banking systems, digital channels, and quality engineering best practices.

Skills & Competencies

Automation Framework & Tools

• Strong expertise in automation framework design using Playwright, Selenium, WebDriverIO, Appium, and Maestro.
• Expertise in web, mobile, API, and performance test automation using Playwright, Selenium, WebDriverIO, Appium, Maestro, K6, and JMeter.
• Hands-on experience in API and contract testing using Postman, Newman, REST Assured, and BDD frameworks such as Cucumber and Behave.

Programming Languages

• Hands-on programming experience with Python/PyTest and working knowledge of JavaScript, TypeScript, or Java.
• Strong programming capabilities in Python/PyTest with working knowledge of JavaScript, TypeScript, and Java.

CI/CD & Infrastructure

• Strong knowledge of CI/CD platforms such as Azure DevOps, Jenkins, or GitLab, including containerized and parallel test execution.
• Proven experience integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitLab, Docker, and cloud execution platforms.

Data & Analysis

• Experience with test data management, SQL validation, service virtualization, and automation reporting frameworks.
• Skilled in service virtualization, test data management, synthetic data generation, SQL/database validation, and log/API trace analysis.

Specialized Tools & Platforms

• Experienced with Azure DevOps Test Plans, Jira, UiPath Test Suite, RPA testing, and intelligent automation workflows.

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and debugging capabilities with the ability to identify and resolve complex quality issues.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and leadership skills with a passion for mentoring and developing high-performing teams.